Life and death situations and small talk go together like Picard and Earl Grey, Troi and chocolate, or Geordi and PowerPoint presentations. Right? Well, they do in “Starship Mine,” a sixth season TNG episode that features a never-before-heard-of particle, a horse saddle, and possibly the most annoying commander in Starfleet. But "Starship Mine" is much more than a bad party with The Hutch. It's also Die Hard in Space.

In this episode of The Ready Room we're joined by Darren Moser, Mike Schindler, and Max Hegel to discuss Morgan Gendel's second TNG outing, how it uses the Die Hard framework without imitating it, the difference between trilithium and trilithium resin (hint: there may not be any), and why it may be a better episode than Gendel's more famous episode "The Inner Light."

In our news segment, we read a letter from one Captain James T. Kirk to a Captain James Kirk in the US Navy, find out what award the Boston chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has for Leonard Nimoy, Oculus Rift's virtual trip to the USS Voyager bridge, and colliding timelines that combine Q and Guinan with the Abramsverse.

The date is October 26, 1881. The place is Tombstone, Arizona. It’s the day of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. So what are Kirk and his crew doing here? Well, Chekov is here to hit on the ladies. That much is clear. But what about the others? It wasn't unusual for the Enterprise crew to visit locales that looked a lot like Earth. Usually the buildings in those places had four walls. But when budgets are thin you spread around the limited walls you have, and if you're creative you find a way to make it work in your favor. Such was the case in "Spectre of the Gun," a Western set in space at a time when Earth-bound Westerns were standard programming.

In this episode of The Ready Room we're joined by Daniel Proulx, Drew Stewart, and Mariel Keeran to discuss TOS's trip to the wild, wild West, whether it's a remarkable exploration of the workings of the mind, or just an average chapter in a series trying to tell stories with limited resources. We also explore whether this was a prelude to holodeck malfunctions, why Chekov can't keep his hands to himself, and find out why sublimated snake venom might be better than scotch. In our news segment we check out the new home at the Smithsonian for the original the Enterprise shooting model, spot starships landing in Japan, dicuss the upcoming changes to StarTrek.com—which include closing down the discussion boards—and learn more about Star Trek Timelines, a new strategy game heading for your mobile device.

In 2001, Star Trek landed with great fanfare in a cornfield in Oklahoma. It was the launch of Enterprise, as the series was known for its first two seasons, and the pilot episode, "Broken Bow," was well received. Over the years, perceptions of the series have changed more than once. The story of "Broken Bow" and Enterprise is one of creative change, great promises mixed with missed opportunities, and a tug-o-war between studio and network.

In this episode of The Ready Room we're joined by Matt Miller, Jose Munoz, and Oklahoma native Larry Nemecek to discuss story elements of "Broken Bow" and go behind the scenes to learn about the activities surrounding the pilot episode and the creation of the series.

In our news segment we take a look at the full details of the TNG Season Six and "Chain of Command" Blu-ray extras, new faces added to Star Trek Las Vegas, some advice from Wil Wheaton to a young Star Trek fan being bullied in school, and some exciting news about Trek.fm and iTunes.

Aliens performing experiments on the crew without their knowledge is nothing new for Star Trek. The Next Generation did it to very creepy effect in “Schisms.” Enterprise also did it—in a somewhat different way—in “Observer Effect.” But Voyager delivered perhaps the most entertaining lab rats-in-space story in the Season Four episode “Scientific Method.”

In this episode of The Ready Room we're joined by Charlynn Schmiedt, Phillip Gilfus, and Daniel Proulx to talk about Tom and B’Elanna getting busy in engineering, Seven and the Doctor wearing tights, a potential Chakotay-Neelix spinoff, Janeway channeling Sisko, and, for some reason, Muppet fanfic.

In our news segment we take a look at a theatrical run for Shatner's World, Leonard Nimoy and the Boston Pops, QMx's salvaging of the Voyager commbadge, and StarTrek.com's interview with Susan Gibney—the Almost-Janeway.